Found an error?
Report now
Re-elected with the best result: Frédéric Mairy, the former Neuchâtel SP councillor.
Keystone
In the Neuchâtel government elections, the red-green party has come one step closer to its goal of overthrowing the bourgeois majority. The two former SP members of the cantonal council, Frédéric Mairy and Florence Nater, were re-elected in the first round of voting on Sunday.
This is a historic success for the Social Democrats in the canton. Mairy and Nater were the only two to achieve an absolute majority of 21,880 votes. Mairy received 23,983 votes, Nater 23,405. The second round of voting is scheduled for April 13.
The incumbent FDP state councillor Laurent Favre followed in third place with 21,327 votes. In fourth place was Céline Vara (20,622 votes), a member of the Green Party. The former FDP member of the Council of State Crystel Graf came fifth (20,009).
The united left with the SP, Greens and the Labor Party ran with the aim of regaining the majority in the five-member State Council that was lost to the FDP in 2021. Whether it succeeds in this endeavour is likely to depend in particular on how well it can mobilize its voters for the second round in mid-April following the success of the SP.
In order to defend their current dominance in the cantonal government, the conservatives also ran with a joint list of FDP, SVP and centrists. Their other representatives, Quentin Di Meo (FDP), Thierry Brechbühler (SVP) and Manon Freitag (Center), came eighth, ninth and tenth respectively.
Two other candidates from the left-wing alliance, Sarah Blum (Party of Labor) and Christine Ammann Tschopp, finished ahead of them. The nine candidates from the other parties had no chance. The voter turnout was 31.89 percent.
Only candidates who received at least five percent of the vote in the first round of voting can take part in the second round.
Of the nine last-placed candidates, only the Green Liberal Maxime Rognon can run again with 2376 votes. The party will announce its decision on Monday evening. The deadline for submitting the lists is Tuesday afternoon.
In the Grand Council, the balance of power remained the same as in the last legislative period. The SP increased its share of the vote to 25.1 percent. This increase compensates for the decline of the Greens. Among the conservatives, the SVP gained seats, while the FDP lost ground. The center reached parliamentary strength.
The Labor Party remained stable with 7.63% of the vote. The Green Liberals lost seats, but achieved 5.55% of the vote. Together with the Center Party, they will continue to "tip the scales". With 2.96% of the vote, the left-wing Solidarités party fell just short of the parliamentary group threshold.
23.03.2025, 13:46
23.03.2025, 18:27
